


tartarus' invisible wounds

by planetundersiege



Series: Solangelo Week 2020 [5]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Drabble, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Solangelo Week, Solangelo Week 2020, Trauma, Wordcount: 100-500, prompt, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24913225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetundersiege/pseuds/planetundersiege
Summary: Solangelo Week 2020: Day 5: NightmaresNico had a lot of nightmares.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796689
Kudos: 49
Collections: Solangelo Week 2020





	tartarus' invisible wounds

Nico had a lot of nightmares.

Almost every night he would wake up screaming in a pool of his own cold sweat in his bed, pajamas literally glued to his body while his heart was beating faster than what should be humanly possible. It always took him a few seconds to remember where he was, the usual darkness of his bedroom usually made him feel small, like he was locked in a shrinking empty space, with monsters lurking in every corner while his body prepares itself to fight when the fight or flight response eventually kicked in. And in in his eyes, he had his memories of his time alone in Tartarus imprinted in his retina, every time he closed them he could see the sights, smell the disgust and feel the pain and fear like he was back there, alone.

It was always the worst when he was newly awoken. He often kept screaming in fear and began to kick with his feet and punch the empty air with his fist in a panic that always caused Will to wake up.

He had nightmares too, almost all demigods had after all of their horrible experiences in the world, but Nico was one of the people with the worst case of it, they were constant, and if he had one nightmare free day per week, they were lucky. Trauma was hard to get rid off, and Will knew that as a doctor and would never blame his boyfriend for waking him up like this.

Instead, he always made sure to make it as bearable as possible for Nico, helping him calm down, reassure him that he was safe and loved, so that he eventually could go back to sleep and not be tired the next day. It took some time, yes, but it was the least he could do.

As usual, he didn’t move towards Nico, or touch him at this point. It was way too early and since he was still screaming and punching, Will touching him would only cause his body to panic more. So, instead he remained quite for another two minute, letting the worst pass by naturally, and then spoke up when Nico’s body realized it probably wouldn’t hit anyone that was lurking.

“Nico.” he said in a whisper. “It was just a nightmare, you’re in bed with me, and not there. Can you hear me?”

His boyfriend nodded, but was still shaking and looked down into the bed, not wanting to meet his gaze at the moment.

“Okay, good. Do you want me to talk to you or do you want me to stay silent for a while? Nod for talking and shake your head for silence…”


End file.
